Benefits of Yoga in Addiction Treatment
Benefits of Yoga in Addiction Treatment is amazing. According to the Surgeon General, 1-in-7 people in the United States. will face substance abuse and addictions. With almost 21 million Americans dealing with addiction, it’s a dangerous problem. However, the right recovery center can help.
Using yoga can help correct addictive behaviors. As a method of holistic treatment, yoga helps individuals through the recovery process.
Some recovery centers include yoga as a method of therapy to help people develop and practice coping skills as a way to manage stress. Yoga also helps to balance both the mind and body which reduces addictive behaviors.
The evidence found here might surprise you. Keep reading to learn all about the many benefits to using yoga for addiction recovery.
Yoga Reduces Stress in Recovery
One of the many benefits of yoga is a reduction in levels of stress. Learning mindfulness and even practicing some breathing techniques helps to minimize stress.
In active addiction, you use drugs or alcohol as coping skills during difficult times. Transformations teach Yoga to clients so they can learn these coping skills and practice them throughout the recovery process. One of the benefits of our substance abuse treatment program is that we don’t just highlight coping skills we teach you how to incorporate them in your everyday life so when you do feel triggered you can use a coping skill to get you through the difficult time.
Stress tends to trigger addictive behaviors primarily because you are so used to use drugs or alcohol as a way to cope with stress, yoga techniques can help break that vicious cycle of addiction. By winning out over temptation, recovery patients feel better about themselves.
As an added benefit, yoga boosts your mood and improves your willpower which also helps lower stress.
Yoga Helps Control Addiction and Cravings
Addiction alters the brain, impacting both brain structure and function. Because of this, overcoming addiction isn’t as simple as saying no.
Drugs, alcohol, and other addictions hijack the brain. They fill the nucleus accumbent with an overabundance of dopamine.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that leads to feelings of pleasure as part of a reward system. Addiction creates an overabundance of pleasure that often leads to drug misuse, including overdoses.
But one of the benefits of recovery yoga is that it returns the brain’s dopamine levels back to normal. This helps to suppress unhealthy cravings tied to that rush of dopamine in the brain.
Yoga Increases Self Awareness
Practicing yoga on a regular basis allows patients to become attuned to their own bodies. They can recognize the warning signs of addictive behavior before it happens.
Noticing and acknowledging cravings as they happen is critical to keeping them in check. Instead of ignoring the signs, individuals learn to listen and understand their bodies in a non-judgmental way.
Yoga Reduces Anxiety with GABA
Another benefit to yoga is a healthy increase in GABA or Gamma-aminobutyric acid. GABA is a neurotransmitter that reduces anxiety and stress. Both stress and anxiety are common in patients suffering from drug withdrawals.
When someone experiences stress or anxiety, their heart rate, and blood pressure rise. Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline also rise in response to that feeling.
Regular yoga may enhance and enlarge certain areas of the brain responsible for stress reduction, such as the hippocampus.
Yoga Allows Patients to Regain Control
Many people that struggle with addiction feel they have no control over their lives. They may feel like they’re caught in a downward spiral and are unable to pull themselves back up.
Because of the impact of addiction on the brain itself, it can be hard to feel like you’re in control of your own body.
Yoga teaches people discipline. Instead of reacting emotionally, people learn to evaluate their responses and control their temper.
People that practice yoga treatment for recovery often find it easier to take responsibility for their own choices. This helps to reestablish a sense of control over the body and mind. It feels like a win in the battle against addiction.
Yoga Creates Can Aide the Creation of a Spiritual Awakening
Yoga is an ancient practice that stimulates your spiritual senses. You don’t have to be religious or understand spirituality to practice yoga, either.
Yoga is far more than a physical exercise because a large part of this practice is mental. Individuals learn to view themselves in a new light, evaluating the way they think and act and how that impacts the world around them.
By practicing yoga and meditation, people learn to observe their environment. They understand there are factors outside their control.
You cannot stop the sounds of a barking dog or fix an angry boss, for example. Giving up control and simply observing has a cathartic effect on individuals dealing with addictive behaviors.
Yoga Creates a Sense of Inner Peace
Regular relaxation and meditation techniques promote a sense of calm and inner peace. People who practice yoga often find themselves feeling stronger emotionally.
Yoga allows people to focus on mindfulness rather than temptations, which aids in impulse control. This inner strength helps patients regain a sense of confidence.
Yoga Can Prevent Relapse
Relapse is so common after recovery that roughly 90 percent of people have a slip before, they defeat addiction. But patients can prevent the chances of relapse after recovery by recognizing the signs and practicing yoga.
Those that practice yoga for addiction become attuned to their body. They recognize the warning signs of relapse before it happens.
Yoga also prevents many of the mindsets and behaviors associated with relapses such as loss of judgment and control.
Practicing relaxation techniques and exercises like yoga help to combat negative thoughts. It encourages individuals to examine and accept their feelings instead of ignoring them.
Practicing Yoga for Addiction Recovery
Using yoga for addiction recovery is a holistic method of treatment that helps individuals overcome addictive behaviors and cravings. Along with other methods of treatment, yoga helps people regain control and balance of their mind and body.
The road to recovery is long and filled with many obstacles, but practicing yoga is one way to prevent a relapse. Plus, yoga is a life-long skill that people struggling with addiction can turn to at any time.
Want to learn more about our yoga therapy or need help dealing with addiction? Contact us to learn more about our treatment services and get help today.
If you or someone you know would like to know more about Transformations by the Gulf Substance Abuse Treatment Center Give us a Call 24/7 (727)498-6498
The success of a person’s recovery depends on the level of personalized treatment provided. It is important to find an addiction treatment program that works. When we say our treatment is individualized, we mean that we craft a program that is tailored to address the client’s unique physical, mental and emotional needs.
In the client’s first 24 hours with us, we’ll evaluate their current state and work to understand what challenges they need to overcome. They’ll also have an initial session with our doctor and meet with one of our licensed mental health professionals.
After the initial evaluations, we’ll design a treatment plan with the sole mission of helping the client overcome and heal from addiction. Their program will focus on things such as:
- Addressing and Identifying root causes of addiction.
- Creating a support system.
- Developing healthy stress management techniques.
- Eliminating Substance use.
- Learning how to communicate emotions effectively.
- Maintaining a healthier lifestyle.
- Repairing damaged relationships.
Our Facility is near the beach and offers a comfortable setting for substance abuse treatment and recovery.
What a Day is Like in Our Treatment Facility.
Why Transformations by the Gulf?
